As the National Park Service commemorates its 95th anniversary, it has unveiled a plan, A Call to Action: Preparing for a Second Century of Stewardship and Engagement.

The plan identifies 36 specific action areas for the park service to better connect people to parks, advance educational opportunities, preserve America’s special places, and enhance organizational excellence.

Voyageurs National Park Superintendent Mike Ward said the plan gives each park a choice of how to implement actions with national guidance that will encourage more people to visit parks in the next 100 years.

And, he notes, it’s not another unfunded mandate. Instead, key to the plan is its flexibility and creativity, Ward said.

“Given the fact that everybody understands where budgets are today and where they will be for a while, this is a fantastic way (to implement the plan),” he said.

Nearing its 100th anniversary, NPS report recommendations include developing a comprehensive National Park System plan; analyzing the total economic value of all NPS programs; engaging youth and education partners; completing 50 individual “State of the Park” reports; addressing the impacts of climate change; launching a national parks endowment; and enhancing cultural diversity throughout the park system and its visitorship.

At Voyageurs, Ward said staff will review each of the action items and decide what opportunities are already offered to the public and how those opportunities may be enhanced, as well as how other action items that fit well into the park’s existing resources may be implemented.

“Our stance at Voyageurs is that we will look at special opportunities in the plan that we can offer folks and build a tangible way to remind the next generation of the park service’s importance and build a new constituency that way,” Ward said.

Among the items Ward said Voyageurs staff will consider are ways to get more young people into the outdoors and to focus on health.

“We have a whole other generation that are not seeing the outdoors like the previous one did,” he said. “A lot of people would agree that a good way of building a well-rounded kid is to make sure a part of their childhood is associated with the outdoors.”

He also said the plan’s health initiative has already been considered and discussions have begun with health organizations.

“America is seeing the largest propensity for obesity in its entire history — national parks offer a way to exercise and recreate and those are the things we’re excited about,” he said.

Other actions, including those related to viewing the night sky, will also be considered.

Ward said he appreciates that the plan does not ask parks to totally refocus what they have been doing. Instead, he said, it allows parks to consider what minor nuances can be changed to encourage more park use.

“It’s not just what people will see when they come to visit Voyageurs, but it’s a commitment to look at our people to ensure that what we’re providing people is the best we can provide,” he said. “The only thing the visitors and community should see (from the plan) is a benefit.”

Many initiatives come across Ward’s desk which sometimes focus on basic operations. But because the plan was developed by “people in the field,” it does not create more bureaucracy. “If we focus on the new initiatives, we sometimes stray further from providing the services we want to focus on. This will allow us to reach new goals.”

The end of the plan features a photo of people jumping into the water from a dock, encouraging park staff to take leadership roles in implementing the plan. “The idea is that we want to make you be a part of the next 100 years, but not to miss out on the fun,” Ward said.

See the full NPS report at www.nps.gov/calltoaction.